With many costumes already sorted or being furiously being worked on for World Book Day on Thursday - which book will you be taking to bed for your nightly read?

Exclusive research conducted by bed retailer Happy Beds, as part of its campaign to celebrate World Book Day on March 7th found that the 1947 Two Hoots picture book, which is illustrated by Clement Hurd and features a rabbit saying “goodnight” to everything around it, was the most popular book to read at bedtime.

Happy Beds collated more than 26 online lists of ‘Best Bedtime Books’ from national newspapers, book review sites and literary bloggers and compiled a list with 399 different titles.

The most popular book in the survey was Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown (Image: Pan Macmillan)

Margaret Wise Brown’s classic children’s book Goodnight Moon has been named as The UK’s Favourite Bedtime Book. The novel came top of the list, beating Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, as well as Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s The Gruffalo.

Other notable entries in the top 10 were Eric Carle’s Very Hungry Caterpillar, Sam McBratney and Anit Jeram’s Guess How Much I Love You and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling.

Surprisingly, only two of the top ten were published in the 21st Century – proving that a true bedtime favourite can take decades to tuck itself into the national psyche.

The Top 10 Bedtime Books, As Researched by Happy Beds

The ‘Best Bedtime Books’ were collated from national newspapers, book review sites and literary bloggers (Image: Getty)

Julia Donaldson CBE, was the most-featured author, with 15 different books in the list, while her long-time illustrative collaborator Axel Scheffler was also featured 15 different times.

The research also saw female writers outperform their male counterparts in the list, with 50 per cent of books written by women, 46 per cent by men and 4 per cent by couples.

More than half (58 per cent) of all books were about animal characters, while just 4 of the top 20 didn’t include any furry friends – proving once again that the UK is a nation of animal lovers.

A spokesperson for Two Hoots said: “Two Hoots, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Books, and the publisher of Goodnight Moon are delighted that this classic book, written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd, remains the favourite bedtime book for children.

Goodnight Moon was illustrated by Clement Hurd (Image: Pan Macmillan)

“Over 70 years old, the magical artwork and that hypnotically soothing text still lull children across the world to sleep to this day. We couldn't be more proud to be the UK home of this sleepy classic.”

Joy Richards, Sleep Specialist at Happy Beds, said: “For years, psychologists and parents have sworn by a good book at the end of a busy day to help children’s development and guide them serenely to the land of nod.

“Our research shows that there’s a huge market still for newer books – just over a third of those on our list have been published in the last 10 years.

“However, when it comes to favourites, it seems we still adore the old slumbersome classics – the most popular books like Goodnight Moon and Where The Wild Things Are are old enough to have been passed down through generations and have truly passed the test of time.”

A full list of the books which might inspire you for World Book Day on Thursday, March 7can be found on Happy Beds’ website.